Protein Powder – Check the Cholesterol Level

People who train regularly generally take some form of a protein supplement. With my training program I require about 70 g of protein a day, which is difficult to achieve without a supplement given that I am a vegetarian and travel so much. My wife Lis is very good about reminding me to have a protein drink after a workout should I forget. She was very surprised one day when I asked her if it was acceptable that the protein drink was 14% cholesterol.

Actually, I would say she was in total shock. She grabbed the bag, read the label and then told me to unceremoniously throw it out. I did some research and found that this is actually quite common. The table below shows the results for a few samples:

Wellments

14%

GNC Pro Performance® 24-Hour Protein Complex

13%

100% Whey Gold Standard

10%

Muscle-Tech Nitro-Tech Hardcore

17%

We found some very nice chocolate cholesterol free protein powder on the Internet so I’ve started using that. It seems to be that the higher quality ‘isolates’ are better than the ‘concentrates’, but you really need to check the label. Stores like the Vitamin shop to GNC carry a full range, so you can get cholesterol free powders – but they are not the cheapest.

One thing I noticed was how easy my new powder cleans up. Before, it stuck to the mixing cup, almost like a paste. Just like what happens when you have too much cholesterol in your arteries!

One response to “Protein Powder – Check the Cholesterol Level”

Dietary proteins have a very small effect on blood protein levels, but its true a higher isolate will have less fat and cholesterol but you lose out on some immune system boosting stuff that gets filtered out as well as the main vitamins in whey.